Best in Supporting Role

The cheer rises from the raucous Sacramento crowd whenever Bobby Jackson makes another daredevil drive to the hoop or hits a difficult three-pointer.

“Bobby! Bobby!” echoes off Arco Arena’s wooden floor in adoration of the undersized journeyman guard who has become the powerful Kings’ most popular player. And he doesn’t mind admitting he loves it.

“Everybody knows my name,” Jackson said with a grin of disbelief.

But nobody is cheering several hours before each game, when Jackson shows up early to shoot hundreds of three-pointers and jump shots in a ritual that would leave many players too tired to lift their arms later that night. Sometimes, Jackson has no company but work crews and his 12-year-old nephew, Chris, who lives with Jackson during the season.

In a profession loaded with hard workers, Jackson has an ethic built on everything from his lack of size to his appreciation for good timing.

“But it’s only because I love to play,” Jackson said. “That’s all I want to do with my time. Just play basketball and take care of my family.... They go together.”

Jackson’s energy hasn’t gone unnoticed in Sacramento, where he became an integral part of the Kings’ rotation in his first two seasons with the club. He finished second for the NBA’s Sixth Man Award last season for his work at both guard positions.

But Jackson made his breakthrough this fall when point guard Mike Bibby broke his foot in the exhibition season. Thrust into the starting lineup for 26 games until Bibby returned on Thursday, Jackson began the weekend averaging 20.2 points and shooting 50% from the field -- an astonishing number for a small guard who does much of his scoring from outside.

He’s shooting 39% on three-pointers, and he scored in double figures in 26 consecutive games. He has shown all the resilience, creativity and talent to be a consistent scorer in the world’s toughest league; as it is, he’s just one cog in the Kings’ offensive machine.

And most improbably of all, he loves his supporting role.

“If Bobby played for any other team except us and maybe Dallas, he’d be an All-Star,” said King forward Chris Webber, who’s in the midst of a stellar season as well. “I can only think of a handful of guards out there who are as good as him. People compare him to Allen Iverson, and there’s a similarity there.

“People used to say he wasn’t consistent, and now he’s doing it for us every single night. When he goes to the bench, there will be no better sixth man in this league, either.”

Said Maverick Coach Don Nelson: “He’s an All-Star-caliber point guard. They haven’t missed a lick since he’s been in there. He guards, he rebounds. He’s terrific.”

Jackson needed 29 years to find his niche. He grew up poor in North Carolina, where only his mother’s influence kept him off the streets. He didn’t join a school team until his sophomore year in high school, and he attended a remote junior college in Nebraska.

Jackson made it to Minnesota, where the Golden Gophers made the Final Four in 1997 -- but his team also was involved in the massive academic scandal that cost coach Clem Haskins his job. Jackson was among the players accused of turning in papers written by a tutor.

He was a first-round draft pick but was traded twice in his first year in the NBA. He thought he had found a home during two seasons with the Timberwolves, but they let him walk away in 2000 -- and he landed in faraway Sacramento, where he quickly realized that for once, he was in the right place at the right time.

“I think it was all leading up to this team,” Jackson said. “All those opportunities and the setbacks are all worth it now. This is a great team, and we’re all equals here. Nobody cares what you did before. We’re just trying to beat the Lakers and win a championship.”

Jackson is listed at 6 foot 1, but he would need a phone book to reach 6 feet without shoes on. He’s a pesky defender and perhaps the Kings’ fastest player -- and he’s also one of the cockiest, talking steadily on the court and boasting about his team’s prowess in the media.

The razzle-dazzle of the Kings’ offense has toned down considerably in the past year, but Jackson still provides enough highlights to fill a reel. Sacramento’s shortest player is an accomplished dunker, and a night rarely goes by when he doesn’t speed past a defender and launch an acrobatic layup while flying into the crowd behind the hoop. Last season, a woman kissed his bald head when he landed on her lap in the front row.

Jackson is fairly certain his minutes won’t decline significantly now that Bibby is back -- but even if they do, he says, he won’t complain. Coach Rick Adelman intends to give Jackson more minutes at shooting guard with both the starters and reserves.

“I just imagine having me and Mike on the floor at the same time,” Jackson said. “We did that sometimes last year, but that could be really tough for teams to defend. We’re quicker than most of the [shooting] guards in this league. They’ll have to defend one of us, and I don’t know if they can do it.”

Jackson went back to the bench Thursday night when Bibby returned to the starting lineup, but true to his predictions, Jackson played a big role.

He and Bibby played side-by-side during three stretches of the game, and Jackson scored 21 points -- though he also made a turnover with 10 seconds left that helped San Antonio escape with an 83-81 victory.

Though Bibby got a huge ovation when he was introduced with the starters, Jackson also got one when he checked into the game, and he was the center of media attention in the locker room afterward.

“He’s a superstar now,” veteran center Vlade Divac said. “What are we going to do?”